Ian McKellen

Long considered to be one of the greatest British stage actors of all time, Sir Ian McKellen initially had surprising difficulty translating his immense talents to film and television. After spending...
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Sir Ian Mckellen is set to be honoured in Wigan, England with a star in the town's square. The Lord of the Rings actor, who lived in Wigan between the ages of three and 11, will return to the town to unveil the tribute in Believe Square, a public space that opened last year (14) featuring stars celebrating the achievements of celebrities from the local area.
Lord Peter Smith of Wigan Council says, "Sir Ian McKellen is rightly one of this town's most loved sons who has brought the magic of stage and screen to life to so many people around the world."
The actor adds, "I am looking forward to returning to Wigan, which holds so many special memories, for this honour. It will be fascinating to see how the town has developed since 1951, when our family moved to Bolton."

Actor Christopher Plummer hates what fellow British thespian Sir Ian Mckellen did with The Lord Of The Rings wizard Gandalf The Grey onscreen - because he played the part better than The Sound of Music star would have. Plummer still has regrets about turning the role down, but admits McKellen found a warmth in the character he wouldn't have.
The veteran says, "I thought maybe three or four years (shooting the films) in New Zealand... I thought, 'There are other countries I'd like to visit before I croak (die)'... But it was a marvellous part. I loved The Lord of the Rings; I grew up on it, actually. It's a great, great, great book and it became a great film.
"And then Ian... was absolutely marvellous in it and he couldn't have been warmer, which I might not have brought to it (character); I might have been a little cold and imperious."
And Plummer jokes he'll forever despise his peer for being good: "I hate the son of a b**ch."

Metallica star Lars Ulrich reportedly celebrated his impending nuptials by partying with pals in San Francisco, California over the weekend (28Feb15-01Mar15). The drummer proposed to model Jessica Miller in 2013, and two years later, the couple is finally preparing to tie the knot.
According to People magazine, Ulrich invited his close male friends, including Bradley Cooper, Sir Ian McKellen and Metallica frontman James Hetfield, out for dinner and bowling on Saturday (28Feb15).
An insider tells the publication they had their own private room in bowling alley Lucky Strike, where "Bradley was the top bowler."
Ulrich and his friends later went to a nearby restaurant for a celebratory dinner.
The upcoming nuptials will mark the third marriage for the rocker and the first for Miller. He has four sons from past relationships.

Independence Day director Roland Emmerich will be honoured by officials from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) at their upcoming Media Awards. Channing Tatum, who starred in Emmerich's White House Down, will present the filmmaker with the 2015 Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which is given to an open member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community for helping promote equality.
GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis says, "As one of Hollywood's most sought-after film directors, Roland Emmerich has entertained audiences across the globe. His generosity has touched the lives of countless LGBT people, bringing shelter to homeless youth and preserving culture-changing stories that help close the gap to full acceptance."
Emmerich, who has finished directing a drama about the 1969 Stonewall riots within the gay community in New York, will receive the award in Los Angeles on 21 March (15).
Past recipients of the award include Sir Ian McKellen, Ellen DeGeneres and Orange is the New Black star Laverne Cox.

Actor Sir Ian Mckellen will be the new voice of Britain's Speaking Clock service in support of charity Comic Relief. The service tells callers the exact time when they dial 123. The Lord of the Rings star will provide the voice until 13 March (15).

Sir Ian Mckellen was honoured for his role in a British radio play at the BBC Audio Drama Awards in London on Sunday night (01Feb15). The Lord of the Rings star was feted with the Best Actor in an Audio Drama prize for his role in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Honore de Balzac's novel Eugenie Grandet.
Other honourees at the ceremony, which merits excellence in radio drama, included Mr Selfridge star Aisling Loftus, who was named Best Actress for her role in Educator, while her co-star, Law & Order: UK's Michelle Terry, landed Best Supporting Actress.
Novelist Neil Gaiman received the Outstanding Contribution Award for his work on several radio adaptations, and Scottish actor/comedian Stanley Baxter was given a lifetime achievement award.

"It is going to be looking very much at the earlier lives of all our characters. And so I don't think we'll be making an appearance. Nor Sir Ian McKellen, either." Sir Patrick Stewart reveals he and fellow thespian Sir Ian McKellen won't be part of the X-Men: Apocalypse movie, set for release in 2016.

Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Ian Mckellen are teaming up for the first time in a TV adaptation of classic play The Dresser. The veteran actors will star in the small screen version of Ronald Harwood's play for a joint production between the BBC and U.S. network Starz.

"We were rooming in Peter Jackson's apartment Downtown; he had bought this amazing apartment in Tribeca and so on one side was like a seven bedroom suite... and I was in the studio apartment on the other side. At the end of the shows we'd just have a drink after work... To come home and have a few drinks and drown our sorrows and talk about our woes at the end of the show (was amazing)." Orlando Bloom enjoyed sharing Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's New York apartment with Sir Ian McKellen when the two movie stars were appearing on Broadway.

Sir Ben Kingsley is adamant he will never take part in a festive pantomime because it would ruin his acting credibility. The Oscar winner has no plans to follow in the footsteps of fellow British acting veteran Sir Ian McKellen by performing in a traditional British show because he fears it would end his Hollywood career.
When asked if he has ever been tempted to do pantomime, he tells London Live, "No... No... In Britain? It would be artistic suicide..."
He then jokingly takes offence to the question, adding, "You're trying to tell me that I look like (comedy dame) Widow Twanky and I don't know whether to take that personally or not... This is bordering on being quite insulting... I could really get quite upset."
McKellen is a big fan of 'panto' and appeared in productions of Aladdin in London in 2004 and 2005.

Starred as the charismatic, delicately despotic boss Two in the six-hour AMC miniseries "The Prisoner"; earned Emmy (2010) nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

Appeared under much makeup as an elderly doctor in "The Keep"

First stage collaboration with college chum Trevor Nunn, "Romeo and Juliet"

Had small role in the PBS miniseries "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City"

Played AIDS activist Bill Kraus in "And the Band Played On" (HBO); earned Emmy nomination

Starred in the Los Angeles stage production of "An Enemy of the People"

Professional stage debut, a production of "A Man for All Seasons" at the Nottingham Playhouse

Portrayed the wizard Gandalf in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy; all were filmed back-to-back: "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001); "The Two Towers" (2002), and "The Return of the King" (2003)

Played first onscreen homosexual in "A Touch of Love/Thank You All Very Much"

Made feature debut reprising his stage role in film version of "The Promise" (released only in the U.K.)

Had stage triumph as "Macbeth" opposite Judi Dench; reprised role opposite Dench in 1979 TV production

Wrote screenplay, executive produced, and starred in "Richard III"; directed by Richard Loncraine; moved setting to 1930s Europe

Once again played Magneto in "X2"

Portrayed Czar Nicholas II of Russia in the HBO film "Rasputin"; garnered second Emmy nomination

Spent summers at camp at Stratford-Upon-Avon as a teen; attended Shakespearean productions in evenings

Portrayed Max, a gay man who pretends to be Jewish when captured by the Nazis, in "Bent" at the Royal Court Theatre in London

Landed cameo role as 'Death' in "The Last Action Hero"

Played the title role in "Richard III"; directed by Richard Eyre at the National Theater; also served as associate producer

London stage debut, "A Scent of Flowers"

Toured sporadically throughout U.S. and Europe in "Acting Shakespeare"

Won a Tony Award playing Salieri in the Broadway production of "Amadeus"

Re-teamed with Bryan Singer for the big-screen version of the Marvel comic's "X-Men"; played the villain Magneto

Appeared in a revival of "Waiting for Godot" at London's Haymarket Theatre; starred opposite Patrick Stewart

Had an extended cameo as Uncle Freddie in the film version of "Bent"

Returned to the NYC stage as Edgar in "King Lear"; performed at Brooklyn Academy of Music

Undertook the role of the villain Chauvelin in the CBS TV-movie "The Scarlet Pimpernel"

Portrayed a British diplomat in one scene of the screen adaptation of David Hare's "Plenty"

Earned acclaim playing a mentally challenged man in British TV movie "Walter," directed by Stephen Frears

Founded and served as a director with Actors' Company

Returned to Middle Earth as Gandalf in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien and directed by Peter Jackson

Summary

Long considered to be one of the greatest British stage actors of all time, Sir Ian McKellen initially had surprising difficulty translating his immense talents to film and television. After spending his youth absorbing the theatre as a spectator and later performer, he emerged from the prestigious University of Cambridge as a celebrated actor, performing all the major Shakespeare roles while making an auspicious professional debut in "A Man for All Seasons" (1961). He spent the ensuing decades amassing an impressive résumé and accumulating awards, but had very little to show on the screen, save for several British made-for-television movies and a few under-performing films. Deciding to make his own luck, McKellen produced and starred in a 1930s-set adaptation of "Richard III" (1995), in which he delivered a sterling performance that led to an Oscar-nominated turn in "Gods and Monsters" (1998). Hollywood was finally forced to stand up and take notice. Though it took until he reached his sixties, McKellen began appearing in huge blockbusters, including all three installments of "The Lord of the Rings" (2001-03), "X-Men" (2000, 2003, 2006) and "The Hobbit" (2012-14) franchises, with the former earning him his second Academy Award nomination and confirming him as one of the greatest British talents of his generation.

Married Gladys McKellen after wife's death; Died 1963 in a car crash, a week after seeing son make his West End debut

Margery McKellen

Mother

Died when Ian was 12 years old

Gladys McKellen

Step-Mother

Jean McKellen

Sister

Born c. 1934

Brian Taylor

Companion

Dated and co-habitated 1964-1972; No longer together

Education

Name

Bolton School

University of Cambridge

Notes

In 1988, McKellen declared himself as a gay man on a BBC Radio program where he debated the controversial LGBT subject of Section 28 with the conservative journalist Peregrine Worsthorne.

He received honorary degrees from University of Nottingham in 1989 and from University of Aberdeen in 1993.

"McKellen's is not the face of a leading man; instead, there's a naturally supercilious sculpting of features, eyebrows poised in irony." – Lawrence O'Toole in the New York Times magazine, April 5, 1992

"Villains are often the best parts." – McKellen quoted in Time Out New York, Oct. 29/Nov. 5, 1998

"Ian is someone all actors should feel proud of because he shows what integrity an actor can have. He's open about his sexuality, he's a great artist and he exudes love and joy." – Annette Bening quoted in USA Today, Nov. 4, 1998

"I need acting much less than I used to. I think that's connected with my public coming out ten years ago." – McKellen quoted in Interview magazine, November 1998

Not everyone was an admirer of McKellen's work. In The Chicago Tribune (Jan. 13, 2002), Richard Christiansen wrote: "The great ones – John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Alec Guinness – are all gone, and now we're left with Ian McKellen to serve as a prime example of English stage performance. Well, he's OK. He's capable of reining in his hamminess to present a respectable portrayal, but there are times when his elaborate rhetoric drowns the character in a sea of elocution. And he has yet to give the kind of towering performance that can define a great actor's career."

"Nobody really looks to Hollywood for the truth about the modern world. They're in the fantasy business. They don't know what's going on, even within their own city." – McKellen quoted in Empire magazine, May 2006

In December 2012, McKellen revealed he had prostate cancer. The actor also said he was diagnosed six or seven years prior, but it was not life-threatening.